CITIZEN SERVICES
Adoption
A child to be adopted by a U.S. citizen and who will reside in the U.S. must obtain an immigrant visa before he or she can enter the U.S. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad processes immigrant visas for children resident in Pakistan. For country specific adoption information, please click here.
As Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country, Muslim family law -- the law by which all Pakistani Muslims are governed -- may be unfamiliar to you. Here, we seek to explain the laws governing guardianship in Pakistan and the implications they may have on your prospective adoption.
Visa Classifications
Generally speaking, there are two immigrant visa categories for international adoptions. The IR-3 visa classification signifies that the orphan has been adopted abroad prior to the issuance of the immigrant visa. The IR-4 visa classification, on the other hand, signifies that the child will be adopted by the perspective adoptive parent(s) after being admitted to the United States.
Pakistan is not a party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Convention). Therefore, the entering into force of the Convention for the United States on April 1, 2008, did not change the intercountry adoption process for Pakistan. Instead, the Guardians and Wards Act of 1890 is the primary law governing custody and guardianship procedures in Pakistan.
Although it is not uncommon, in Pakistan, for children to be raised by relatives other than their biological parents, Muslim Family Law makes no statutory provision for adoption and does not recognize adoption as a mode of familial affiliation. There is no statutory provision for adoption in Pakistan.
IR-3 Visa - Child Adopted Abroad
Because there is no legal or statutory provision for adoption in Pakistani family or civil courts, the Embassy is unable to issue IR-3 visas on the petitions of American citizens who "adopt" children in Pakistan. While these "adoptions" may confer guardianship under Pakistani law, they are not legal adoptions for purposes of U.S. immigration law.
IR-4 Visa - Child to be Adopted in the U.S.
U.S. citizens wishing to adopt a child from Pakistan should pursue an IR-4 visa for the child. The adoption of children who have been issued IR-4 immigrant visas must be completed in the United States.
In order for a foreign-born child to be eligible for an IR-4 adoption, the rights of any living natural parent must be irrevocably terminated. Therefore, you (the petitioner) must secure permanent legal custody of the orphan under Pakistani law and that custody must be sufficient to allow the child to be taken from Pakistan and adopted in the United States. In addition, you must fulfill any applicable pre-adoption requirements of your home state. A child who enters the United States on an IR-4 visa will acquire American citizenship when the adoption is full and final in the United States.
Filing a Petition and Submitting a Visa Application
For information on how to file a petition to bring a foreign-born orphan to the United States, please visit the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services website at http://www.uscis.gov/ The Department of Homeland Security will notify us, through National Visa Center, when your petition has been approved. Upon said notification we will ask you to submit additional documents to the Embassy on the prospective adoptive child's behalf. For your convenience, a checklist of these documents is provided on our website. Once the documents are complete, a consular officer will interview the child and the petitioner at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. After the interview, a consular officer will review the documents and determine if the child is eligible for a visa. This processing can take up to two weeks. If all is in order, the consular officer will issue the child's immigration visa. Please note that there is a $400 processing fee for each visa.
For More Information
If you have additional questions about adopting a child from Pakistan, please contact the American Citizen Services Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad at +92-(0)51-208-2116 or +92-(0)51-208-2186, or via email at ACS_Islamabad@state.gov Due to the high volume of calls and emails we receive on a daily basis, it may take us a few days to respond to your inquiry. However, we endeavor to respond to all calls and emails as quickly as possible.